Chair for railroad-tracks



(No Model.)

A. A. STROM.

CHAIR FOR RAILROAD TRACKS. No. 332,760. Patented Deo. 22, 1885.

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AXEL A. STROM, OF AUSTIN, ILLINOIS.

CHAI R FOR RAILROAD-TRACKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 332,760, dated December22, 1885.

Application filed May Q6, 1885. Serial No. 166,708.

To all whom it 17mg/ concern,.-

Be it known that I, AXEL A. STROM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Austin, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Chairs forRailroad-Tracks; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same.

My invention, though it is readily adaptable, as will hereinafterappear, to other analogous uses, is designed particularly for use as aswitch-chair, or, as it is more commonly called, a head-chair. Deviceshitherto used for this purpose present a construction somewhatresembling mine, but are designed to operate in securing the ends of therails in position (in which the oscillatory section of rail orswitch-rail is made to coincide with the one or the other for thepurpose of switching) by the ilanges of the rails, which enter recessesor sockets provided to receive them, and formed with the upper surfaceof the plate on the under side of the usual cross-bar, which recesseshave vertical openings or slots on their upper sides considerably widerthan the necks of the rails to receivewhich they are provided. Thismanner of construction presents serious objections, one being due to thefact that the rail-flanges differ considerably in width, even in railsof the same weight. necessitating frequent change in the manufacture(ordinarily by casting) of the chairs of the width of the sockets,whereby they shall afford snug fit to the anges, which they are toreceive, to hold the ends of the rails with sufficient rigidity, andanother being that one or the other flange of a rail, at the partcontained withinasocket of the chair, owing to the enormous straincontinually being exerted upon it, with the weight .and momentum ofbodies passing over it, is liable to and frequently does become broken,whereby the rigidity of its hold is destroyed, permitting it to beforced outside of the limit of throw of the switch, and thus renderingliable obvious disastrous consequences.

The foregoing objections are the inevitable result of holding rails inposition within switch-chairs by their flanges. I overcome theseobjections by holding the rails at their necks, which, besidespermitting a chair of increased strength and durability to be pro- (Nomodel.)

vided, and since there is not by any means the difference in thicknessof the necks of the rails that there is in the Width of iianges,allowing chairs having the parts of uniform dimensions to be employed,generally affords greater and by far more reliable and lasting rigidityto the ends of the rails in their positions within the chairs.

My invention consists in the construction hereinafter described andclaimed.

Referring to the drawings, Figure lis a plan view of a railroad-switchprovided with my improvement; Fig. 2, a vertical transverse sectiontaken on the line22of Fig. 1, showing the preferred construction of thecross-bar of my improved chair, and showing only one rail in position,the other being omitted to avoid obscuring of features hereinafterdescribed; Fig. 3, a similar View to that shown in Fig. 2, representinga modified construction of the cross-bar; and Figs. 4 and 5,perspectiveviews of the chair,illustrating, respectively, the preferred andmodified construction of the crossbar.

A is a fiat, preferably rectangular, metal plate, to be secured upon arailroadtie. B is the cross-bar, which may be formed as a part of theplate A or attached to it in any manner that will afford therequisitesecurity, andis provided with tranverse slots t through onelateral edge and extending toward the opposite lateral edge a sufficientdistance to leave a backing of a thickness to afford requisite strengthto the bar and stops for the ends of the main rails, and the slots tlead into chambers or sockets s, sufficiently large to accommodate theiianges r of any of the usual dimensions of rails O. The distance fromthe center of one slot s to that of the other corresponds with the limitof throw of the switch-rail C', and the width in cross-section of eachslot is such as will readily permit the entrance into it of the railneckq, the sides of which would be forced against the adjacent side of aslot by sufficient strain upon the top of the rail, thereby affording astop which prevents displacement of the rail.

The construction of the cross-bar B (shown in Figs. 3 and 5) affords avery desirable form of this feature of my invention, comprising a solidoblong metal bar provided with the nec ITO essary form of slots t, andhollowed out below the slots, as shown, to produce the sockets s. Thepreferred form, however, and that which, owing to its construction,affords the greater strength, since the sockets are formed withoutreducing the thickness of metal, and since the rail is supported higherupon the neck, is that shown in Figs. l, 2, and 4, in which the slotsare formed by slitting the bar transversely a distance to leave abacking, to produce stops for the main rails and of desired thickness toafford requisite strength without removing, as may be required, anymetal in producing the slits, when the metal on each side of a slit isbent in a heated state upward to an extent necessary to afford a socket,s, and slot t, of desired dimensions, without severing the edges of theparts forming the roofs of the sockets from the backing. This form may,also, like the modification hereinbefore described, be 2o made inseparate pieces.

There is no reason why my improved device shall not be used for otherpurposes than merely the purpose of a switch or head chair.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by 2 5 AXEL A. STROM. Inpresence of A. G. PETTIBONE, A. H. MULLIKEN.

